


calling me home

by inkin_brushes



Series: Immortals (Vamp AU) [18]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-05-27 07:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6274741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkin_brushes/pseuds/inkin_brushes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The distinct feeling that the floor had just opened up beneath his feet caused Hakyeon to sway. With one hand he braced himself against the doorjamb, and with the other he clutched at the amulet under his shirt, fisting his hand around it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	calling me home

**Author's Note:**

> this update isn’t funny in the slightest, but it still makes me laugh. rabin are sad, neo are tragic, and then hyuken are just like STICK IT IN.

Wonshik was awoken by the sensation of movement, the slight shuffling of sheets by his side. “Hongbin?” he rasped, blinking his eyes open even though they didn’t want to go. He didn’t know what time it was, but it couldn’t be long after sundown. He felt like he should still be sleeping.

Hongbin was sitting up in bed, legs brushing Wonshik’s. His hair was mussed, falling out of the band Wonshik had tied it back with this morning, before he’d tucked Hongbin in. Wonshik reach up, tugging gently on an escaped curl. 

“Sorry,” Hongbin whispered. He turned enough that he could give Wonshik a soft smile. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Wonshik shook his head, struggling up onto his elbows with a groan. “It’s early.”

“It is,” Hongbin agreed. “I think the sun only just set.” He looked away, at his hands which sat folded atop the blanket. “I woke and then— I was too anxious to fall asleep again.”

Wonshik bit his bottom lip for a moment, wondering what to say. He could guess well enough why Hongbin was upset. “How much do you remember?” he ventured softly.

“All of it, I think,” Hongbin murmured. “I hope.” He glanced at Wonshik, his lovely brown eyes full of worry. “They made it out, right? Hakyeon and Sanghyuk. I didn’t— hurt them.”

“No, you didn’t,” Wonshik said, hand running along Hongbin’s arm soothingly. “Taekwoon tackled you before you reached Hakyeon.”

Hongbin exhaled, his shoulders slumping. “I remember that,” he said softly, touching his hand to his ribs and wincing. “I was just— just making sure, you know, that there wasn’t a lapse there.”

“There isn’t, don’t worry,” Wonshik said. “Jaehwan got them out after Taekwoon took you down.” He smiled wryly. “Taekwoon wouldn’t let anything happen to Hakyeon.”

Hongbin buried his face in his hands. “God, I— I can’t believe I _did_ that. I tried to fucking eat Hakyeon.” His voice broke a little.

“Hey,” Wonshik murmured, sitting up fully so he could put his arm around Hongbin’s shoulders comfortingly, “it’s alright. It wasn't you, not really, you know?”

“It was, it was me— I _remember_ it,” Hongbin moaned from behind his hands. “I remember— I remember wanting to— to kill him.” He looked at Wonshik, face twisted. “He smelled good, smelled human, his heartbeat so strong. I was going for his throat—”

Wonshik touched his fingertips to Hongbin’s lips, and Hongbin fell silent, expression miserable. “You couldn’t help it. When you get like that— you have no conscious control, Hongbin. None of us blame you for it.”

Hongbin grabbed Wonshik’s hand, pulling it away from his mouth and twining their fingers together. “I imagine Hakyeon was pretty upset about it though,” he whispered. “Did you speak to him after, did he seem alright?”

Wonshik fought to keep his face blank. He hadn’t actually seen Hakyeon after the fact, but when Jaehwan came back with Hongbin’s meal, he’d said that Hakyeon had broken down outside. Hongbin didn’t need to know that. “I didn’t speak to him,” Wonshik said carefully. “I was looking after you, but— I’m sure he’ll be fine, Hongbin.” He squeezed Hongbin’s hand reassuringly, leaning forward to peck him on the lips lightly. “Hakyeon’s a tough old man, you know. He’ll bounce right back.” 

Hongbin gave him a wobbly smile. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

——

Hakyeon woke up screaming.

He bolted upright, flailing at the blankets as his chest heaved. It was too dark, he couldn’t see—

“Hakyeon,” Taekwoon rasped, from somewhere to Hakyeon’s right. There was the sound of shifting and then arms wrapped around Hakyeon, pulling him in against Taekwoon’s chest. “It was a dream, Hakyeon.”

Hakyeon blinked rapidly, an attempt to prompt his tattoos into kicking in as well as hopefully stop the tears in his eyes from falling. “I know,” he gasped, willing his heart to settle. He was shaking so badly. It had been a new one, different in more horrific ways. “I’m okay. I’m sorry, they don’t usually get to me like this anymore.” 

Taekwoon went still, that chilling vampire stillness, and Hakyeon really didn’t need that right now. “You have them frequently?” Taekwoon asked, voice curiously flat. 

“Can you pretend to breathe?” Hakyeon whimpered. “Please.” There was nothing they could do about the lack of heartbeat, but when Taekwoon breathed it helped, and he did so immediately, an even, slow rhythm. In slumber his temperature had cooled to something just less than tepid, but he spiked it up, then, to a very human temperature. Hakyeon almost sobbed in relief. 

After several minutes in Taekwoon’s arms, leaned up against his chest, Hakyeon’s own breathing evened out some, and his trembling lessened. He was still seeing— eyes, eyes and fangs— but he was better. He was good at managing these things, stuffing them into a dark corner of his mind and pretending they weren’t there.

“I’m okay,” he said again, and this time, he was closer to meaning it. 

Taekwoon pulled him away slightly so he could gaze down at Hakyeon’s face. “Tell me,” he murmured.

Hakyeon shook his head, reaching up to touch his throat lightly. There was still a phantom pain there, tingling sharply against his skin. “It was just— just Hongbin,” Hakyeon whispered. 

“Ah,” Taekwoon said, and then he frowned. “I would never let him hurt you.” 

“I know,” Hakyeon said, smiling weakly. “And, I mean, even if he did get his hands on me when he was like that— I’m me, I could take him down. But that’s not really the issue, to be honest.” Taekwoon waited, expectant, but Hakyeon didn’t really want to get into it. The only time Hakyeon had seen Hongbin all vamped out like that, no conscious thought, just bloodlust, madness— was when he’d been wrapped in silver chains, screaming on Wonshik’s doorstep. After that he’d been in the cells, and those screams had never sounded like Hongbin. Rationally, Hakyeon knew it was him, had been him, but he’d never been able to really reconcile it. There was Hongbin, and then there was that— that _creature_ , that had Hongbin’s vague shape but wasn’t him, in Hakyeon’s mind, not really. 

Watching the transformation happen, like the flipping of a switch, had really driven the reality of it all home in a very horrific way. 

Taekwoon was still staring, waiting for an explanation, and Hakyeon simply shrugged. “It’s— it’s nothing, I’ll be okay,” Hakyeon mumbled. He hadn’t been expecting his nightmares to recur, he normally didn’t get them, laying safe in Taekwoon’s arms. But then, most of Hakyeon’s nightmares were _about_ Taekwoon in some form or another, so it would make sense that he wouldn’t have those when they were together. But this— this was another thing entirely. “I’ll go see Kyungsoo about it, I guess. That’ll help.”

That made Taekwoon frown deeper. “Kyungsoo?”

“Yeah, he— he’s made me a potion for dreamless sleep in the past,” Hakyeon explained. “But I ran out, so.”

“I’ve never seen you take a potion.”

“Well,” Hakyeon said, blushing a little, “that’s because when I’m with you I usually sleep soundly.”

Hakyeon expected some reaction, but Taekwoon kept his face carefully blank. “But not this time,” Taekwoon said softly, lilting enough for it to be a question.

“Well, no, because this nightmare wasn’t about you,” Hakyeon said, and then immediately wanted to swallow his tongue. 

Taekwoon’s eyes widened slightly, and he shifted, so he could face Hakyeon a bit more. “Your nightmares are usually about me?”

Hakyeon choked, mouth opening and closing, unsure what to say. He eventually croaked out, “I shouldn’t have said that.” 

“You have been hiding this,” Taekwoon murmured, brows settling into a scowl that was part annoyance, part concern. “Tell me.”

“You sure do say that a lot,” Hakyeon grumbled, but Taekwoon just stared at him, and he knew he wasn’t going to let this go. But how could Hakyeon confess that he had nightmares about Taekwoon dead in a cold cell, nightmares where Hakyeon was left without him, when Taekwoon was living in the waking nightmare of Hakyeon’s own impending death? It was shameful, and cruel, that Hakyeon should be worrying about the possibility of life without Taekwoon, when it was Taekwoon’s reality. 

And he had nightmares about that too, about the centuries after his death, Taekwoon alone for eternity, grieving and cold. He had no right to have nightmares about such things, when it was the path he’d actively chosen. 

Taekwoon was still waiting, and Hakyeon knew he would have to tell him, he owed him honesty, but this was going to hurt. Slowly, haltingly, Hakyeon confessed, detailing the nightmare where Taekwoon was captured, held and tortured, and then staked. The words felt filthy as they tumbled from Hakyeon’s lips, like a poison. 

“And these dreams got so bad that you had to take a _potion_ to stop them?” Taekwoon asked hoarsely, horror in his voice. 

“I love you,” Hakyeon whispered, looking away miserably. “And everything about this— the world is stacked against us. Is it any wonder that my greatest fear is losing you?” 

Taekwoon grabbed Hakyeon’s face in his hands, tipping it up, and pressed a kiss to Hakyeon’s lips. It wasn’t chaste, wasn’t soft, and Hakyeon felt as if the very breath was being ripped from his lungs. 

When they parted, Hakyeon was panting, and Taekwoon murmured, “Don’t worry about me, Hakyeon.”

Hakyeon squinted at him. “How can you say that? You know it isn’t that easy.” 

Taekwoon gave a one shouldered shrug, the motion unusually jerky. “I’m the vampire. Of the two of us, I am the one in less peril of succumbing to death.”

Hakyeon swallowed, finding a lump beginning in his throat. “Yes, I don’t really have a right to worry, do I? Not when my nightmare is your reality,” he murmured, and then promptly slapped his hands over his mouth in horror. Ever since that time, all those nights ago— they hadn’t spoken about it again. It was there, always, the big elephant in the room, Hakyeon’s decision, his mortality, but they didn’t _talk_ about it. Hakyeon didn’t want to bring it up, didn’t want to rub salt in the wound. 

He had so much guilt. 

Taekwoon grabbed Hakyeon’s wrists gently and pulled them away from his face. “It’s alright,” he said softly, and Hakyeon chanced a glance at his face. It was carefully blank. “It is not something I forget about, so speaking of it is not unduly painful.” 

Hakyeon’s face crumpled for a moment, but he managed to hold himself together. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I have nightmares about that too, the— the aftermath, of my death.”

The corners of Taekwoon’s lips twitched at that, which Hakyeon thought was an odd reaction. “Worrying about me,” he murmured, touching the side of Hakyeon’s face lightly.

“Well, yes,” Hakyeon replied. He leaned into Taekwoon’s gentle touch. “I don’t have any right to, I know— this was— it was my decision—” His voice broke, so he cut himself off, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry.”

There was silence between them, for a few long moments. Hakyeon couldn’t bear to look at Taekwoon’s face, instead he stared down at his own hands, trying not to cry. He had no right to cry. 

“I think,” Takewoon finally said, soft and slow, “that no matter what decision you made, there would be regrets. There is no— no winning.”

The tears spilled out then, because by all rights, Taekwoon could be, should be, using this to push his point. If Hakyeon was so miserable with his decision, why not change his mind, after all. “Why aren’t you telling me to— to just turn?” Hakyeon asked wretchedly. 

“As I said,” Taekwoon whispered, “there is no winning, there is no guarantee that if you became a vampire, things would be— be less unpleasant, for you. Especially if you did not wish to become one.” He gave a short, hollow bark of laughter that was so unlike him, Hakyeon found goosebumps rising on his skin. “I would reverse my transformation without a second thought, if I could. I cannot hold it against you, for not wanting to be one of my kind.” 

“I think about it,” Hakyeon admitted, hands coming up to rub at his arms in an attempt to rub the chills away. Taekwoon spiked his temperature up more, and that just made Hakyeon sob. “I try, Taekwoon, I try to talk myself into— into turning, because it has to be better than this.” 

Images of Hakyeon’s nightmares flashed before his eyes, bloody and cold and painful, before his mind caught on the image of Hongbin, coughing up blood but still clawing at Taekwoon, trying to escape so he could tear out Hakyeon’s throat. Hongbin, who loved Hakyeon above all else except Wonshik. His love, his very being, was at the mercy of his bloodlust, his vampirism. 

“But then— then stuff like last night— and I just— I can’t _be_ that,” Hakyeon choked out. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, dearest, I’m sorry—” Taekwoon pulled him against his chest once more, and Hakyeon just kept apologizing, couldn’t stop. He’d never be able to say it enough. “I want to be with you, for eternity, I do— but I don’t want to be a vampire. I don’t. I _can’t_.” He squirmed, pulling away so he could desperately search Taekwoon’s face for something, anything. “What do I _do_?”

Hakyeon wasn’t sure what he wanted. He wanted divine intervention, and failing that wanted Taekwoon to shake him and tell him to turn. Or tell him not to. This was all too big for him, he couldn’t— couldn’t choose to be a vampire— but choosing not to be one as he’d done was looking like it was going to end up in misery for all parties involved.

Hakyeon waited, looking up at Taekwoon’s expressionless face with baited breath. 

“I think,” Taekwoon said neutrally, “that you need to get more sleeping potion.”

——

Sanghyuk was just stepping out of the bathroom, steam wafting out behind him, when his phone gave an insistent buzz from its place on the coffee table. The light it cast on the walls was bluish white in the darkness of his apartment. He held his towel in place around his hips with one hand, the other picking his phone up and swiping to see who was talking to him.

_I need to see Kyungsoo, and so do you. Make an appointment for your tat, we will go see him together._

It was from Hakyeon. Sanghyuk thought this was a bit of an odd time to be reminding him of this, since Kyungsoo most likely was asleep now. Nonetheless he sent back a simple _Okay_ , and made a mental note to contact Kyungsoo soon. 

He hoped Hakyeon was alright, wanted to ask him, but he knew it would be unwise to send such messages. He’d have to use heavily coded language, and if they were going to see one another soon, he could just wait to ask then. 

Once he got off his shift at five he’d message Kyungsoo, as the sun was rising. He knew Kyungsoo would probably be up then. Now, ten at night, most of the city was asleep. The smart citizens were asleep. The only ones left were the hunters, the vampires, and the stupid young people the hunters had to try and stop the vampires from eating. 

Sanghyuk sighed. “Get dressed, dude,” he mumbled to himself as he walked into his room. “Get dressed and then take some pain meds and nap until your shift starts.” He didn’t have to be in until midnight. No fishing, not tonight, just a patrol. Five hours with Sungjae and nothing to do but walk around. This was either going to be hilariously fun or mind-numbingly vapid.

“I hope it is fun,” he said to his closet, pulling out a t-shirt and tugging it over his head. At least since he wasn’t bait tonight he could dress down, in a pair of worn jeans, a simple shirt and jacket. The skinnies he usually had to wear for bait purposes made his legs look lovely, but they were distinctly uncomfortable in the crotch area. The jeans he pulled on now had no such issue, and he sighed happily. 

Sanghyuk’s window rattled behind the closed blinds, making him jump, a little. Then he smirked as that was followed up by rapid tapping. He went over to yank the blinds up, his smirk morphing into a full grin as he saw Jaehwan’s disgruntled face.

“You locked it,” Jaehwan said, muffled through the glass.

Sanghyuk unlatched the window, sliding it open. “I did,” he said simply, stepping aside. “It’s rude to come in without knocking.” Jaehwan sniffed indignantly and then slipped in, making the wards around the apartment restless, Sanghyuk’s sun tattoo prickling with warmth. His feet made no sound as they touched down, and Sanghyuk shivered, the sensation not wholly unpleasant. “You’re a bit late, you know.”

Jaehwan looked at him quizzically. “Late?”

“Mm,” Sanghyuk said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “Fifteen minutes ago I was naked.” He blushed, a little, not quite used to being so flirtatious. 

“Oh, I _am_ gutted to hear that,” Jaehwan murmured, sinking down to his knees in front of Sanghyuk, his hands hot through the material of Sanghyuk’s jeans as they braced themselves on Sanghyuk’s thighs. Sanghyuk leaned down, brushing his lips against Jaehwan’s, and Jaehwan let out a little sigh. “Sadly, though, that is not why I’m here, and I can’t stay.”

Sanghyuk pulled away a little, affecting a mockingly surprised tone. “You came to see me for a reason _other_ than wanting to get off? Has the earth fallen out of orbit?”

Jaehwan squinted at him, making him giggle. “I came here,” Jaehwan announced loudly, clearly trying to drown out Sanghyuk’s laugher, “to tell you not to come by, for a while.” 

Sanghyuk sobered. “Is Hongbin very upset?”

“He is shaken,” Jaehwan said simply, giving a one-shouldered shrug. “It’s not as if having had one relapse around you he’s more likely to have another. There is no reason or rhyme to these things. But, he is concerned, so, for a time, refrain from popping in unexpectedly.”

“Well I wasn’t going to do that _anyway_ ,” Sanghyuk said. He’d learned his lesson the first time.

Jaehwan rolled his eyes. “I just thought I should let you know, just in case.” He stared at Sanghyuk, hard. “It’s really not safe to be alone with Wonshik either. So just— we’ll have a bit of a break for a while. No coming over to my place.” 

Sanghyuk’s shoulders fell, a little, as he realized what that meant. He’d been— but it didn’t matter. His plans could wait. 

Jaehwan noticed the movement. “What is it?” he asked.

“It’s nothing,” Sanghyuk muttered, blushing furiously. One of Jaehwan’s eyebrows arched in curiosity, so Sanghyuk stammered out, “I’ve been thinking about— about staying the night at your place again, maybe.”

The look on Jaehwan’s face was almost comical. It was like Sanghyuk had finally managed to zap him properly. “I could kick them out,” Jaehwan said weakly. “Just for a little while—”

“No! Oh my god, no,” Sanghyuk said, whapping Jaehwan’s shoulder. “You’re terrible. We’ll wait.”

Jaehwan sighed heavily and Sanghyuk laughed. “Fine,” Jaehwan grumbled. His hands slid down a little, so his thumbs could rub along the inseam of Sanghyuk’s jeans. “You’re feeling up to it?”

Sanghyuk nodded slightly. “Yeah, I— yeah. The bites have pretty much all healed, and I— I’ve been— been wanting it, again.” He played with the top button of Jaehwan’s shirt as an excuse to not look at Jaehwan’s face. 

“We’ll work something out,” Jaehwan whispered. 

“We could always just— you know—” Sanghyuk looked around, gesturing a bit. “We could— could do it here. I have lube—”

“No,” Jaehwan said immediately, “your bed is tiny, and frankly, love, it’s like laying on gravel. Not to mention that I like bathing after proper sex and your tub is moldy.” 

“My tub is _not_ moldy,” Sanghyuk gasped, offended. He couldn’t argue about the bed though. He really needed a new mattress. Jaehwan gave him a long look and Sanghyuk grumbled, “Alright, maybe it’s a little moldy, but I can only do so much with the grout.”

Jaehwan snorted, and it was weird hearing a vampire make such a noise. “Even if that wasn't the case,” he said softly, “I’d want it to be at my place. I want to, well, savour it. Take our time. We can’t do that here, but my place is underground. We’ll have a much wider window of time to work with.” He grinned, his fangs run out. “And my bed is so much bigger.”

Sanghyuk’s breath hitched. It was amazing, how the last time he’d been stuck underground with Jaehwan, he’d felt such fear. There was none of that now. Now his mind was running ahead with all the things he wanted to do in the quiet darkness of that house.

It was clear from the way that Jaehwan was looking at him, he was thinking similar thoughts.

“Remember our deal though,” Sanghyuk murmured, trailing his fingertip so it rested over Jaehwan’s heart. “If this has all been a ploy to get me to let my guard down and sleep with you again, and then you turn around and abuse that trust _again_ , I will not have to stop Hakyeon from staking you—” He pressed down, so his nail dug into Jaehwan’s skin through his shirt, a pin prick of pain as his voice dropped even lower. “Because I will stake you myself.” 

“I’d like to see you try,” Jaehwan said, his upper lip curling, but it lacked any malice because it came out breathy. It was strange, to have a creature like Jaehwan want him so much. Sanghyuk was trying not to let it go to his head. He’d done that before, and didn’t want to do it again. 

“Are you actually getting turned on at the thought of me trying to kill you?” Sanghyuk asked. 

Jaehwan squirmed and Sanghyuk thought if he were human, he may have blushed then. “No.”

“You’re weird,” Sanghyuk said. Really, Jaehwan was such a strange creature. He also didn’t take Sanghyuk nearly as seriously as he should, but he’d learn. If he fucked up again, he would _learn_.

“I’m weird?” Jaehwan chuckled. “You’re odd to me as well, love. You’ve changed so much in the short while I have known you,” he murmured, voice almost awed. Then he shook himself, and when he spoke again, it was clipped. “I made a promise, and you made me one as well. I intend to hold up my end.” 

“I do too.” 

They stared at one another for a long moment. “Well,” Jaehwan finally said, “I suppose that is that.” He rose to his feet and stepped back, which made Sanghyuk frown. “Once things settle down at my place I’ll— we’ll figure out a night.”

“That’s it?” Sanghyuk asked, a little indignant. “Now that we’ve got an appointment, you’re just out of here?”

Jaehwan put his hands on his hips. “If you must know,” he said, fangs flashing as he spoke, “I’m technically supposed to be getting Crazy his dindin right now— but I wanted to swerve by to see you beforehand. I didn’t plan to stay this long in the first place, and I really should go, before he relapses again and Wonshik has a meltdown.” 

Sanghyuk shuddered at the thought of Jaehwan hunting. A very different sort of hunting than the type Sanghyuk did. What an odd arrangement they had. He wondered why it caused him no angst, the way it seemed to do for Hakyeon.

Maybe it was because Sanghyuk didn’t love Jaehwan.

“Alright,” Sanghyuk muttered, and Jaehwan swooped in to peck him on the lips and then made for the window. “Although,” he added in a musing tone, “I don’t have to be at work for another two whole hours.” He leaned back on his hands a little, cocking his head to the side. 

Jaehwan paused midway through climbing out his window, and Sanghyuk fought not to laugh. He didn’t want to keep Jaehwan, really, if Hongbin regressed again it would upset Wonshik, but Sanghyuk also couldn't resist tormenting Jaehwan a bit. He made it so easy.

“I’m just saying,” Sanghyuk said idly, and Jaehwan put both his feet back on the floor. “We have plenty of time to fool around a little, nothing too— exhaustive.” He grinned as Jaehwan’s eyes darkened. “It’s a patrol shift tonight, so _boring_ , and now that you’ve been here, the whole time I am just going to be thinking about—”

“Damn you,” Jaehwan growled, coming over and shoving Sanghyuk backwards faster than Sanghyuk could blink.

Sanghyuk laughed, loud in the darkness, but the sound cut off when Jaehwan kissed him.

——

The normally bustling streets of downtown were still in the darkness, and Hakyeon was able to park right in front of Kyungsoo’s shop as a result. As he cut the engine he asked Sanghyuk, “You alright?”

It had been three nights since Hakyeon had told Sanghyuk to contact Kyungsoo, and if he was being honest, he was surprised Kyungsoo had gotten them in so fast. He was glad for it though, because two of those three nights Hakyeon had woken up gasping, screaming, and Taekwoon was clearly growing concerned. More concerned. 

Sanghyuk, sitting primly in his passenger seat, inhaled deeply, expression thoughtful. Hakyeon hadn’t mentioned the hickey on the side of his neck, and Sanghyuk, unusually, didn’t seem very self-conscious about it. He’d made no attempt to hide it, in any case. “Yes. My other tats are restless, but I think it’s because they know something’s going down.”

“The oak tree is a very quiet tattoo, it shouldn’t bother you or them overmuch,” Hakyeon said simply. He turned, reaching into his backseat and grabbing the backpack there, heaving it into his lap. As it moved, the contents bumped against one another, clearly heavy and metallic. 

“Are you selling him _all_ of your equipment?” Sanghyuk asked as Hakyeon opened his door and climbed out. Sanghyuk scrambled to follow suit. 

“No, just most of it.”

The sign in the window of Kyungsoo’s shop was flipped to closed, and the interior of the shop was dark, but the door was unlocked. When Hakyeon touched the handle it buzzed against his hand in a way it never did in the daytime, and as he stepped over the threshold the air felt thick, for a moment, like he was pushing through a wall of tightly spun spiderwebs. But once he was in, the feeling faded.

The interior of the shop was quiet, the tinkling of the bell as the door closed weirdly loud in the darkened room. The charms in the shop woke up a little as they began walking down the shelves, rustling, but Kyungsoo was nowhere to be seen. 

“This place is always so creepy after dark,” Sanghyuk muttered, looking around. “Where’s Kyungsoo?”

Hakyeon readjusted the backpack strap a little as he made his way around the register counter, heading for the door to the back. “Probably back here,” Hakyeon said, not bothering to lower his voice. 

Sure enough, they found Kyungsoo bent over the table in the back, finishing off the preliminary spellwork for Sanghyuk’s tattoo. He had a large metal mixing bowl in one hand, filled with a viscous black liquid, and the other hand he was using to draw a large pentagram on the table _with_ the black liquid, dipping his index and middle fingers in it to write out the necessary symbols within the three rings around the star. 

“You’re a bit early,” Kyungsoo said idly, not looking up at them. He finished off the last symbol with a little flourish. 

“We’ll stay out of your way,” Hakyeon said, eyeing the candles around the room even as Sanghyuk crept closer to the table, eyes wide. He stopped in his tracks when Kyungsoo shot him a look, and Hakyeon hid his smile by fussing with where he needed to put his backpack. In the end he just set it in the corner of the room. The charms on the shelf nearest him chattered curiously at him.

Kyungsoo set the bowl aside, picking up a box of matches carefully so as not to accidentally dirty them with his two wet fingers. He plucked out a match and lit it, then meticulously tapped the flaming head to the pentagram on the table. The liquid immediately caught fire, the flames running all along the design until the whole thing was burning. 

Sanghyuk squeaked, but Kyungsoo simply blew the match out, the picture of serenity as his work table apparently went up in flames. He said something to the fire, the words fast and in a language Hakyeon thought must be long dead, and the flames simmered down, going from orange to white. 

Kyungsoo made a satisfied little noise and then bustled off to the corner of the room to wash his hands at the sink there. The fire on the table continued to shrink down and change color, stabilizing from a white flicker to more of a blue glow. By the time Kyungsoo’s hands were clean and he was getting out his tattooing gear, the flames weren’t even flames anymore. Instead, it was like the design was simply emitting a bright blue light. 

“There,” Kyungsoo said happily, staring at his glowing table with his hands on his hips for a moment before he looked to Hakyeon finally. “Now, what have you brought me?”

Hakyeon picked the backpack up and unzipped it, holding it open so Kyungsoo could prod around at the equipment in there. “None of my knives, like I said, but pretty much everything else,” Hakyeon said as Kyungsoo pulled out a thin silver net, the webbing stretched delicately over his fingers. “I’m not sure how much it’s worth.”

“Plenty,” Kyungsoo muttered, looking the webbing over for a few more seconds before putting it back into the bag and then taking the whole thing out of Hakyeon’s hands. “It’ll cover everything for tonight, anyway.” He put the bag back down in the corner, and then nodded to a shelf. “Your potion is there, by the way.”

Hakyeon turned, and after a beat spotted it beside a carved wooden figurine of a wolf. He picked the bottle up, noting it was substantially larger than the last batch, and the liquid seemed to be extra vibrantly blue due to the light cast by the pentagram. “Thank you.”

“Mm,” Kyungsoo grunted, pulling on some latex gloves quickly before looking at Sanghyuk. “Sit down— no, the other chair.” 

Sanghyuk sat in his designated seat, looking nervous for all that he’d done this before. He’d never seen the process that went into it, and now that he knew the design in front of him was apparently on fire it seemed to have unnerved him. But he would know that it wouldn’t burn him. For the tats on his back and chest, he’d had to _lay_ on the design. 

“Will you be staying?” Kyungsoo asked Hakyeon as he took the chair opposite Sanghyuk. He motioned for Sanghyuk’s arm, and after hesitating a moment, Sanghyuk rolled up the sleeve of his jacket and then lay his arm across the glowing design, the smooth skin of his forearm facing the ceiling. 

“Yeah,” Hakyeon said. He needed to give Sanghyuk a ride home after this. The new ward might make his old tattoos a little unstable for a day or two, so he’d have a harder time defending himself if he got attacked. 

Kyungsoo swabbed at Sanghyuk’s skin to disinfect it, and then, tattoo gun in hand, set to work. The gun buzzed, the sound almost soothing to Hakyeon’s ears, and Sanghyuk made a face like he’d bitten into a lemon, but other than that he was still as Kyungsoo drew the ward into his skin. Hakyeon knew this wouldn’t take very long, an hour or so. The oak tree was a small tattoo, it just required a bit more detail work than some others. 

Hakyeon stared at the bottle in his hands after he began to grow bored watching the progression of the tattoo. He dug his nail into the wax seal at the top, picking pieces off and thinking of his conversation with Taekwoon the other night. Something in him wanted to ask Kyungsoo for advice, but— that would require confessing to too much. And just because Kyungsoo did dealings with vampires didn’t mean he’d necessarily be alright with Hakyeon _turning_ into a vampire. 

But there was something he’d been meaning to ask, and it couldn’t hurt. 

“Hey, Kyungsoo,” Hakyeon said, maybe a little too casually, “in your opinion as, well, you, do you think it’s really true that there’s no way to reverse the— the vampire transformation? Like, speaking as someone versed in the magical arts, is it truly impossible?”

The tattoo gun stopped buzzing, and Kyungsoo sighed, grabbing a tissue so he could blot at the blood and ink beading on Sanghyuk’s skin. “We don’t know everything there is to know about the magic that goes into the process, but— yeah. It can’t be reversed.” He bent over Sanghyuk’s arm again, the blue light from the pentagram reflecting off his eyes. “Why?”

Sanghyuk looked up at Hakyeon with wide eyes, and then the gun began to buzz again, so his face crumpled into a wince. Hakyeon looked away from the both of them, mumbling, “I was just curious.”

After a few long moments of nothing but the sound of the gun, Kyungsoo spoke again. “It’s not that easy. It never will be. You can’t change them back, Hakyeon.” For a brief second his eyes flickered up to look at Hakyeon and then he went back to the ward. “They’re stagnant creatures, vampires. Humans can change where they can’t. They can’t go back, so you have to either join them, or die.”

There was nothing condescending or pitying in Kyungsoo’s voice, he was simply matter of fact, and Hakyeon was glad for it. The words were already like a slap in the face, and he fought not to show any reaction. He’d known it to be the case, but— some time part of him had hoped that maybe there was an option beyond— beyond those two.

_You have to either join them, or die._

Sanghyuk was looking between Kyungsoo and Hakyeon in turn, clearly trying to figure out how much Kyungsoo knew, how much Hakyeon had told him, was willing to tell him. Kyungsoo had said _them_ , so Hakyeon was inclined to think he thought Hakyeon was inquiring because of Wonshik and Hongbin.

Hakyeon’s mouth felt dry, while his eyes felt too wet. He tucked the potion into his coat pocket, saying curtly, “I need some air, so I’ll be outside waiting.” 

He made for the door, bolting like he could run from this messy reality he’d found himself in, but before he could get all the way out of the room Kyungsoo was calling out, “Hakyeon.”

Hakyeon paused in the doorway, turning to look back. Kyungsoo had stopped the gun and was blotting at Sanghyuk’s skin again. “What?” Hakyeon asked, needing to get out of there, to try and think. 

“It’s about time you knew,” Kyungsoo said idly, not looking up, “that the charm around your neck is actually made to be worn by a vampire.”

The distinct feeling that the floor had just opened up beneath his feet caused Hakyeon to sway. With one hand he braced himself against the doorjamb, and with the other he clutched at the amulet under his shirt, fisting his hand around it. “ _I’m not a vampire_ ,” he said loudly, practically shrieking it. 

“No,” Kyungsoo mused, “I suppose you’re not.” He was so casual about it, and Hakyeon just wanted to scream in his face, but he wouldn’t risk fucking up Sanghyuk’s ward.

Sanghyuk— his eyes were wider than Hakyeon had previously thought they could go, looking at Hakyeon like some new revelation had just dawned on him. No no _no_. Hakyeon felt like his stomach was twisting itself into knots. 

“Is this your way of telling me that— that I'm going to turn?” Hakyeon asked, and he was definitely shrieking now. 

Kyungsoo had the gall to roll his eyes as he fiddled with the tattoo gun, adjusting something. “I’m a sorcerer, not a clairvoyant. I’m just saying your charm was made to be worn by a vampire, not a human, that’s all.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Hakyeon reached under his collar, fishing out the chain and amulet jerkily. It gleamed tarnished bronze in the light and squeaked at him as he eyed it in betrayal. 

“I knew you’d freak out,” Kyungsoo said smartly, giving him a pointed look. “It was so adamant about going home with you, I knew you’d obsess over what it _meant_. What was I supposed to do? When something like that happens— it does so for a reason. You were meant to have that charm.” He gave a one shouldered shrug, moving to resume his work. “I did tell you it was unusual.”

Hakyeon remembered that. _The rune is unusual, stars instead of sun_ , Kyungsoo had said. 

“Stars instead of sun,” Hakyeon muttered, looking closely at the amulet, already knowing what he’d see. He’d studied it quite a bit over the months, knew the runes by heart. “You didn’t tell me what exactly made it _unusual_ though, that was pretty fucking vague.” Another piece of that conversation, all those months ago, floated back to him, prompting him to add, “You did say that— that _you_ wouldn’t get much use out of it.” He stared at Kyungsoo, who wasn’t looking at him. “Why?”

Kyungsoo heaved out a heavy sigh, clearly exasperated. “Why do you _think_?”

Hakyeon had a lot of ideas about that, the primary one was practically screaming at him with how fucking obvious it was. He fought not to gag, yanking the charm off from around his neck as he turned and stomped away. 

The outside air was icy, biting at Hakyeon’s warm cheeks. He stood outside Kyungsoo’s shop, chest heaving, and brought the charm up to eye level, dangling it by the chain. It was chattering at him, clearly sensing his upset. 

“What is it?” he asked it, knowing he looked like a loon, standing outside and yelling at a necklace. “What the fuck do you want from me?” The charm gurgled at him, and Hakyeon made an incoherent sound of anger that broke off in a sob. He drew his arm back and hurled the charm down the street. It fell on the pavement a short distance away, making a slight _ping_ as it hit the cement. 

Hakyeon staggered from the force of the throw, catching himself on the window of Kyungsoo’s shop. He was trembling, he realized, slumping against the glass. How did this all go so wrong? 

The tears he’d been trying to hold in spilled over then, running icy down his cheeks. He scrubbed at his face, angry at himself for crying. He was so sick of crying.

A faint scraping noise reached his ears, and after a moment he realized the amulet was dragging itself back along the sidewalk towards him. Hakyeon gave a hiccuping sob, pushing off from the window to go meet it. He sank down onto his haunches, and when it came within grabbing distance he carefully scooped it up, cupping it in his hands and staring down at it. 

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. Tears dripped off his nose and into his hands, and the charm sadly peeped at him. “I don’t know what to do,” he whispered to it. “Should I turn? _Do_ I turn?”

The charm made a musical note in reply, high and clear. It was a curiously hopeful sound.


End file.
